Pulling the Engine

[Sean]

Hey people,

I was looking for some pointers for pulling the engine from my parts car.

I burrowed a hoist from a friend of mine. I've already taken off the hood, will be pulling the raditator tomorrow and taking off all other parts so I can pull the motor and tranny together.

He also let me burrow his load leveler, and it has a chain hanging off each end.

Here's where I'm needing some assistance - I'm pretty sure I'll attach one side of the load leveler to the bracket right on the front of the head. So, that covers the front of the engine. BUT, I'm not sure wehre I should go about attaching the load leveler to the back end of the engine.

Basically - where can I attach the other chain?

From there, I should be able to figure everything else out!

If anyone has any other suggestions, please let me know!

Thanks,

Sean

[rs4pro3]

There is a hole in the block back by the starter where you can hook the other end, Easier to do with the intake off. But if you are pulling out an m20 with no tranny no load leveler is needed. I just attach one end of the chain to one motor mount arm, and the other end to the other side. A M20 is small enough to pull right out, now the m30 that's a different storry or it your pulling it with the tranny attached.

[Sean]

So, it'd be best to either: A: remove tranny first or B: take of intake?

I've seen full engines, tranny and all be put in in pictures (an M20) - so i was just wondering if that was doable.

So, if I had the tranny with it - could I still attach the chains to the motor mounts, or that's only with the tranny detached?

Thanks for the assistance!

[e9nine]

Sorry for the crappy pic but this is the best I have from a few years back.

Disconnect radiator and hoses, shifter linkage, driveshaft, slave cylinder... exhaust, powersteering sruff, yank harness, disconnect hoses to heater core and you're good to go. It's pretty intuitive and you will for the most part figure out what stays and what has to be disconnected. If you're gonna let the engine sit for a while or put it in a different car, it doesn't hurt to tag some of the hoses etc.


PS: Plug all orifices as much as you can. Coolant/oil will still spill in small amounts

[rs4pro3]

You don't have to, it's just hard to get to. With skinny hands it can be done, it's right near one of the starter bolts.

[Sean]

Yep, i found that rear role back there. It will be very tough to get to.

I'll see if I can get to it though.

Thanks for the pic, e9nine. Helps a lot :) Did you take off the front radiator fan too?

I think I should be able to take care of it today. I'll let you all know how it goes! :D

[Sean]

Hey guys. Just thought I'd let you all know I successfully removed the engine from my parts car.

The bracket on the very bottom that sorta pressed on the subframe gave me some issues, so I just took it off, and it fell down when I pulled the engine up.

Came out nice and smooth. I'll have pics to help other people in the future too.

Thanks again guys!

-Sean

[MR 325]

I pulled my engine and tranny together, totally complete except exhaust and it came out very easily. I hooked the cherry picker directly to the hook coming off the front of the motor only. Doing so made it come out at the perfect angle.

[ryan_george]

I pulled my engine and tranny together, totally complete except exhaust and it came out very easily. I hooked the cherry picker directly to the hook coming off the front of the motor only. Doing so made it come out at the perfect angle.

Just the one bracket attached to the head? I'm suprised it didn't bend when supporting the engine + trans at an odd angle.

[rs4pro3]

That bracket is Flimsy I'd never trust it holding up and engine and a tranny.

[Jand3rson]

When we pulled the eta motor/tranny out of my last E30 and the i motor /trannyfrom the donor car, we threaded and tied a rope through that hoist point at the front, and then tied it from there around the intake manifold. Still got the angles right, and for the most part, they came out just fine. Aside from the fact that the hydraulic shock was bleeding oil, and the engine was slowly falling back down, nearly coming down on the front core support of the frame, everything was hunky-dory. (It was a rental, and yes, i went back and bitched until they charged me 1/3rd the rental fee.)

[Sean]

The one I burrowed from a friend had a load leveler - and man, that thing was awesome. It worked perfect with this engine. :D